I’ve thrashed and killed a few good cars. A couple of XJ6, a Daimler Six and a nippy little 3.0 AWD x-type thingumy which stuck to the road like glue.

I’ve crashed them, bashed them and neglected them. Though all died in the end the 1990s AJ16s were mechanically indestructible. The Daimler had 278,000 miles showing when I bought it. It was a grand motor until a courier driver fell asleep and T-boned us one day. Ouch.

so four years ago I bought another potential junker, an 85,000 mile XJS convertible. Very dirty and neglected. No history. Some dodgy looking paint repairs. Inner city roadside dealer. But hey, the mechanics seemed good and it had an MOT.

It has has just grown on me month by month. I rescued the (excellent) history. It was sold by TWR Oxford and has two previous owners - the last of whom kept it as her weekend car at the Oxford cottage for eighteen years. How nice. It has cleaned up quite well.

whilst it will never be a show car (front bumper very down in the mouth, rear bumper decidedly smiley) I have made the decision to keep it. We’ve done 35000 miles since purchase and it never goes wrong. Lives out unless pouring with rain and copes with winter surprisingly well.

It carts me and my dog back and forth to work twice a day and takes us on holiday. It’s been to the south of France and the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. In November it took us to Switzerland for work.

the only non-service item in that time has been a gearbox overhaul this Christmas. I know, luck of the draw but what a lovely motor. No matter how grubby the day, the xjs is always shiny and always puts a smile on the face.

Don’t get me wrong. I am not mean with my motors. I try to listen to it and pre-empt anything that could fail. It costs maybe £2500 a year. That includes every year I pick some rust to fix. Done floors and sills and arches so far. Next big job will be windscreen scuttle. I notice the car has several, ever so slightly different paint colours but mainly because I know which panels were done when. The passenger door may even still have original paint.

oh and the last, slightly odd thing. I usually dump the car in the street where I live. Not so much parked as abandoned. Lots of vehicles along my street have been scratched, keyed, or variously damaged over the years(The Daimler Six was. My wife’s Alfa Spider was) But not the xjs with its acres of shiny smooth dark blue paint.

I’m new to any Jaguar forum and not a vin number freak or even much of an oily rag. So please feel free to treat me like an idiot.
very best to all, Robert

Welcome aboard Robert.